How to Count to Ten in Japanese

Practice the following:

• Ichi means one.
  • The "i" sounds like "ea" in "each" and the "chee" is like "cheek"
  • Sometimes, the "ee" part is not pronounced and the whole word sounds like "each".
• Ni means two
  • sounds like knee
• San means three
  • sounds like "sahh-nn"
• Shi means four
  • sounds just like "she"
  • This same symbol can also be read as "yon" (sounds like "yohhn", not like "yawn"), but it still means 4.
• Go means five
  • Americans have a tendency to say the word "go" as if it were spelled "gow". When you say "go" in Japanese, you need to leave your mouth rounded when you're done to prevent the accidental "w".
• Roku means six
  • the "R" is pronounced like a cross between R and L, so when you say it it should sound similar to "Loh-koo". But an American R is pronounced on the very back of the tongue; an American L is pronounced about a quarter of an inch from the tip of the tongue; but the Japanese R is pronounced using only the very tip of the tongue.
• Shichi means seven
  • sounds like "she-chee", with a hint of tch on the "chee"
  • can also be said as "Hichi" or "nana" (the A's are pronounced "ah")
• Hachi means eight
  • sounds like "Ha!" and then tchee
• Kyu means nine
  • sounds like the letter "Q", but again, Americans have a tendency to pronounce the letter Q as if it were "quw". Leave your mouth rounded on the "oo".
• Ju means ten
  • pronounced "joo", with a teensy-tiny bit of zh on the j

Try to listen to native speakers to get the pronunciation right.Go to www.japanese-online.com and use their interactive learning program to learn how to pronounce these and other words.

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